This invention relates to a brake system for a railway car.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,963 (1970), a two-axle railway mine car is disclosed having a bottom hinged at one side and in which the bottom pivots about the hinge to allow discharge of the lading from one side of the car.
One brake system utilized on these cars includes a spring loaded brake which is applied when air pressure is evacuated from an air cylinder opposing the spring force.
This system is not compatible with the standard American AAR brake system and locomotive control, in which pressure reductions in the locomotive control valve cause brake application in each car in the train.
Furthermore, lack of clearance to replace brake shoes has been a problem with this system.
The object of the present invention is to provide a railway brake system applicable to two-axle mine cars and to conventional two-axle freight car trucks which is compatible with the standard AAR brake system and locomotive control of application of the brakes by reduction in the brake line at the locomotive control valve.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,406,794 and 3,442,358 disclose the use of a cylinder and a piston connected to a horizontal lever for applying railway brakes in a first direction and a slack adjuster extending in a direction opposite to the piston travel to apply the brakes in a second direction.